lets discuss preps for disasters

[Soundguy]

de Nada- we laughed our butts off watching those jokers- If brains were C-4, not a one of them would have enough brains to blow their noses.

Even funnier [although a little scary too] are some of the more "hardcore" prep fanatics on Y-tube, that say that they were approached by NatGeo but said that they didn't want to be on the show because they didn't want to give away their secrets or location lest they be robbed or the govment come and comfiscate their stuff.

I kid you not!

If they are that secret, why are they on the Y-tube?

PS: At one time on TWC, NatGeo had some "Prepper Tips and Tricks" on-demand, usually something so basic [or otherwise so esoteric] that it would never prove to be helpful for any kind of survival situation.

Someone, I forget who, did one of those prep type shows, camera crew was let into a secret underground ? Clubhouse where they met monthly to plan or whatever. In a box on the shelf were pineapple grenades.

 

[Jstpssng]

Quite some time ago this was posted on the web, might even have been on TBN. It's the story of a man who experienced Argentina's economic collapse in 2001 or as he put it...WTSHTF.

The Silver Bear Cafe

Hey Mace, that's a great read. Thanks for posting. While we can only speculate, this guy has lived it and knows what he's talking about.
Early on I suggested a supply of reading material (for entertainment purposes, not educational as others here have proposed.) Apparently that's old school, as he states that things which sell fastest on the "grey market" are food, clothing, and DVDs.

And for you gold hoarders...

since it is impossible to determine the true mineral percentage of gold, small shops hand dealers will pay for it as regular jewelry gold.

What I would do if I were you: Besides gold coins, buy a lot of small gold rings and other jewelry. They should be less expensive than gold coins, and if the SHTF bad, you'll not be losing money, selling premium quality gold coins for the price of junk gold. If I could travel back in time, I'd buy a small bag worth of gold rings...

 

[k0ua]

A CME "could" happen at any time.

This little M class flare happen on 9/28/15, knocked out some radio for a bit.

Intense Solar Flare Unleashed from Unruly Sunspot - Yahoo News

 

[MossRoad]

An excellent book everyone should have...

Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving: Judi Kingry, Lauren Devine: 9780778801313: Amazon.com: Books

 

[PhysAssist]

I also have the entire Foxfire series, as well as a few on ancient construction, survival books, medical books, emergency surgery, edible plants and I found a link to a massive Armed Services field manuals, in .pdf format and have been downloading them as time permits.

We bought a fully stocked emergency medical backpack and will get the full surgical one as well before long. We have enough literature stockpiled to handle most situations but I am always looking for more. As far as peanut butter, I have opened some that was a couple years past its "best by date" and it was perfectly fine. We do have plenty of heirloom seeds but hope to collect some more.

We will never be fully prepared for everything, and certainly not as set up as well as Andy, but every month that goes by we are one step closer.

Hi SirReal [love that],

Would you be amenable to sharing that link?

PM me if you'd prefer that approach.

Thanks,
Thomas

 

[PhysAssist]

Ok, I'll change the tone for a second, because it's something I haven't seen anything about, that affects me, at some others posting here. Kids. I've got a 9 yr old son, a 4 yr old daughter, and a 1 year old daughter. So, the 1 year old (just turned 1 like 3 weeks ago) still needs diapers, wipes, etc for the short (1 or 2 week evens) term. Sure, over the longer range I would be forced to make cloth diapers out of old work shirts, but I would prefer to avoid it for your, what I'll call 1st degree events. All 3 are in good shape and health (HALLAJUEH) but it's something that would make it hard in a more serious event to shelter with others. Helping 1 able bodied person is one thing, a family of 5; that's a much bigger ask.

My son's cub scout pack and I where camping this weekend and we got to talking about this. A good friend and fairly close neighbor has cattle, I've got chickens, another has hogs, others have arms, mechanical skills, ect. What I said was in a true SHTF, people would help each other, but you wouldn't be able to show up empty handed. Neighbor who has nothing to share, and no skills, isn't going to be able to hunker down with me and mine, and expect me to provide for them.

As heartless as it is; the elderly and sick might make it 2 weeks, if it goes on for a month, not many would.

You are right about the ill or frail elderly and the chronically ill- I for one, try to get my SWMBO to order her medications AHEAD of when she runs out so that she can slowly build up some back stock, and I also try to have our MD's order our "as needed" meds as if we always take the highest allowed daily doses for the same reason.

As for the empty handed, they'll babysit, do the bad [or poopy] end of the stick jobs or get sent packing.

One of my favorite [fiction] books is "Lucifer's Hammer" an old comet-strike story by one of my favorite authors- Larry Niven, and in it, there are a lot of useful real world tips given by the way- one of the characters is an old relatively frail scientist, who stocks a bunch of rally useful "how-to" books and uses them to trade his way into a camp where otherwise he might not've.

Then he becomes their Mr. Science/Wizard and helps them defends against the evil hordes.

Good story- smart idea!
Thomas

 

[4570Man]

We have a 20,000 watt natural gas generator that powers everything that the electric company usually does. We just can't run two high draw items at the same time like the electric oven or electric clothes drier. We have city water which has stayed on during every natural disasters to date. My Grandparents who live 1/4 mile away have a well, but they have had city water for 40 years. The condition and water quality of that well is unknown. He has another well that is over 700 feet deep on some property he used to raise cattle on, but being 20 miles from the house makes that unpractical during a disaster. On the slim chance gasoline is still available if the natural gas goes out we have a 8,000 watt welder/generator. We can also convert the natural gas generator to propane, but that is probably the hardest fuel to find. A welder could also be useful during a long term disaster. Most of our family lives local which is extremely helpful during a disaster or any time for that matter. Between the family we have gasoline and diesel vehicles. I would guess diesel would be easier to find in a disaster. We could even use the diesel lawn mower to re power a generator if such a need arises. We have wood heat and enough wood for 5 years, but without electricity the heat output is minimal. Being a shooter we have plenty of guns and ammunition. Between the family we have a mule ( gasoline version ), two four wheelers, and a army mule. ATV's would usually make better transportation during a disaster and burn less fuel than a vehicle. When it comes to food we are about as poorly prepared as anyone.

 

[TomSeller]

The fistfights in grocery stores and generator thefts that I've heard of didn't happen in the city, they happened in the 'burbs.

maybe because people in the city don't know how to cook from scratch or what to do with a generator?

 

[MossRoad]

We have a 20,000 watt natural gas generator that powers everything that the electric company usually does. We just can't run two high draw items at the same time like the electric oven or electric clothes drier. We have city water which has stayed on during every natural disasters to date. My Grandparents who live 1/4 mile away have a well, but they have had city water for 40 years. The condition and water quality of that well is unknown. He has another well that is over 700 feet deep on some property he used to raise cattle on, but being 20 miles from the house makes that unpractical during a disaster. On the slim chance gasoline is still available if the natural gas goes out we have a 8,000 watt welder/generator. We can also convert the natural gas generator to propane, but that is probably the hardest fuel to find. A welder could also be useful during a long term disaster. Most of our family lives local which is extremely helpful during a disaster or any time for that matter. Between the family we have gasoline and diesel vehicles. I would guess diesel would be easier to find in a disaster. We could even use the diesel lawn mower to re power a generator if such a need arises. We have wood heat and enough wood for 5 years, but without electricity the heat output is minimal. Being a shooter we have plenty of guns and ammunition. Between the family we have a mule ( gasoline version ), two four wheelers, and a army mule. ATV's would usually make better transportation during a disaster and burn less fuel than a vehicle. When it comes to food we are about as poorly prepared as anyone.

20,000 watts and you can't run the oven and clothes dryer at the same time? They should only pull 3000-3500 watts each.

 

[GreenYellow]

20,000 watts and you can't run the oven and clothes dryer at the same time? They should only pull 3000-3500 watts each.

I was thinking the same thing. 20k watts is 166 amps at 120v. If that's a limitation, you're doing something way wrong.